Reference intervals for serum lipids, lipoproteins, and apoproteins in the elderly.

We measured total cholesterol, high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, apoprotein A, and apoprotein B in serum. The subjects were a volunteer group of 145 white people (50 men and 95 women) ranging in age between 65 and 95 years, who were not receiving medical treatment and had no disease that could influence lipid metabolism. Before further categorization, we saw no significant sex-related difference in any of these lipid constituents. The mean age of the group was about 80 years, and we compared results for those older and younger. For the women, the only significant difference was a decrease in low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol for those older than 80 years. In men over 80 there was a significant decrease in triglycerides and in apoprotein B and an increase in high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol. The only sex-related difference for persons under and over 80 was in values for high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, which were higher for men over 80, whereas triglycerides were higher for women over 80.